Page 110 of Hayden's Stalker

I ignore my desire for the woman next to me and smile brightly at my friends. “Hey, guys. Good trip here?”

“Yeah, it was all right,” Gabriel smiles at me. “Hey, Tati.”

“Hi, Gabriel. Harrison.” Tatiana nods at them, and her cheeks flush pink when she looks at Harrison.

She obviously knows I fucked up and meant to text him about her, and I’m grateful when he doesn’t give anything about our conversation away when he says with a friendly smile at her, “Hey, Tati.”

“Let’s go see the fans,” Gabriel says.

Sebastian walks up to us with a grin on his face as Gabriel’s talking. “They’d be devastated if you did it without me, though.”

“Of course they would. ‘Where’s Sebastian?’ they would cry,” I smirk at him.

“‘How can we ever go on in life without seeing Sebastian Fox?’” Gabriel laughs.

“‘Our very lives are devoid of meaning because he has not graced us with his presence,’” I say as though the world is ending, and I put the back of my hand to my forehead as I do.

“Exactly,” Sebastian agrees with a grin. “It’s a good thing I’m here now, I guess?”

We all laugh as we follow Tati over to the fans nearby. I know most of them, but there are always a few new people in each city. I love hearing how they found our music, and they’re always so excited about the concert each night that it builds my excitement for the show.

“It’s so good to see you guys,” Gabriel says with a grin at them.

We generally have to take a lot more photos when we’re all here signing at the same time because people like to get us all in each shot and everyone wants their own pics as well.

“I think if I had to choose, I’d probably say thatGames We Playis my favorite album,” I tell the fan I’m talking to. “It’s ourmost recent music, so it’s the stuff that reflects who we are as a band right now. I think ‘Romantic Nightmare’ is my favorite to play, though, because I love the drum solo.”

“I love that song,” she says with a grin.

I pose for a photo that her friend takes with her phone. I smile brightly when Tati rushes toward me and wraps her hand around my arm. Her grip is firm and tight as she pulls me away from the fan.

“We’re leaving,” she snaps at me as she pushes me away from the group, behind the other bodyguards, who are pulling my friends back from the fans as well.

My blood runs cold, and my heart races as I look around to try and figure out what has made Tati do this. I feel sick, but I can’t see any reason for her to have had this reaction.

She tugs on my arm and says, “Let’s go.”

She keeps looking back at the fans, but I still can’t figure out what set her off. I have no idea how much danger I’m in right now, but I’m freaking out.

“What the hell went wrong?” I ask with a frown.

“When we’re inside.”

I nod, remembering that she said she would sometimes not be able to explain the reason she did something until we were in a safe place. I can’t relax until we’re in the safety of the venue. The backstage area is full of the usual commotion of people running around getting things organized for the show.

We have to go straight to the soundcheck, and as Tati leads me to the stage, she says, “One of those fans was carrying, and she had her hand on her gun. Probably instinct, but not worth the risk.”

“I had no idea,” I tell her, grateful that she’s clearly far more observant than I am.

“Not your job,” she says with a shrug.

“True.” I smile at her as the guys approach and say, “I guess I’d better go do my job.”

I head onto the stage, and Tati does her usual walk around the venue before she hangs out at the edge of the stage. I’m distracted from playing when I see our roadie, Daniel Russo, approach her. They have a short conversation and a jealous lump forms in my stomach as I watch them. She’s smiling at him, and he’s clearly into her, but he walks away and comes back a few songs later with some water and sandwiches that the two of them start eating together.

When the soundcheck ends about five minutes after that, I come offstage and raise my eyebrows at him. “Hey, Dan.”

“Hi, Hayden.” Dan nods toward the stage. “You guys were great, as always.”

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